


Fox Tail Tales

by HokkyokuNoOokami



Series: Fox Tail Tales [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Reincarnation, Youkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HokkyokuNoOokami/pseuds/HokkyokuNoOokami
Summary: Demon fox or what people known as youko was famous for their magical power and long life. Legend said they got those power and life from killing people and suck their life’s source to replace their old dying one.Fox tail presented how much power they possessed, the more they had, stronger they would become. In some rare occasion youko might had five tails even six.And this particular youko had nine tails. A small blond boy with his golden ears and his nine tails, roaming around in a dark forest, alone.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: Fox Tail Tales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762318
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue]

**Author's Note:**

> Hey-ho Fella Writers! This is my First fic series in AO3 which popped up in my brain after I read certain fic. I had already decided this fic will have around 10 main chapters – maybe with some chapter broke into 2 parts (apologize). With that being said, I hope I managed to finish this whole story.  
> First thing first, I made twist from what you might have - or haven’t – read in the folklore and common knowledge about nine-tails describing power of a demon. As this is merely a fanfiction which popped up in the deepest of my brain, let it be as what I want to fantasize about the tail and the story about.  
> I do apologize for the grammar mistakes and choice of words, as English isn’t my mother’s tongue, though I tried best to learn it. Without further ado, enjoy~!  
> I also like to use some simple Japanese vocab and of course I didn't forget to give some foot note on it. You can search it on the bottom of the story  
> Eiichiro Oda- sensei still own One Piece, Hail Oda...~~ \\(^o^\\)

**Fox Tail Tale [Prologue]**

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

The green head boy climbed up the grey colored sofa then plopped down on the left side of the blond adult.

“Nee, you promised to tell us story, Papa..” he started, hugging the lean yet well-built tight of the person one he called Papa.

“Yaa, you plomised us..” the blond boy on Papa’s right side said suit, hugging the man’s right arm.

“Okay, okay.. I remember about that. Sit still. What do you want to hear?” Their Papa said while caressing his boys on their head fondly.

“Hmmmm… Zoi… you have any idea?” the green head asked.

“I don’t know, Sai _onii-chan_ can choose.” The small blond answered, getting no idea what they wanted to hear. The older brother frowned while searching for something, until his gaze accidentally met his little brother’s fox plushie.

“Papa, tell us a story about fox.” The green head said, getting a quizzical gaze from his Papa.

“Fox? But why?”

“I don’t know. I think fox is cute. Kii-chan is cute right?” He giggled, pointing towards his little brother fox plushie. It was an orangey colored plushie with a little white on its tail, they named him Kii-chan.

“Yees.. Kii-chan cute and soft. And we want to know more about fox.” The blond boy added, while hugging his Kii-chan tightly.

At first their Papa frowned in confusion, yet he had no heart to decline their request.

“If that’s what you want.” The blond said in the end, “but..” he continued without finishing his words.

The two boys’ eyes were beaming before they heard the ‘but’ word, making the two raised their eyebrows confused.

“the story had no ending, and you have to decide it yourself what will the ending be. Is that okay?”

“Why?” the little brother asked.

“I don’t understand.” His older brother added.

“Not all stories have good ending.”

“That mean, the story is a bad one?” The green head frowned, while the blond pouted unable to understand. They were only 9 and 7 years old little kids after all.

“Not all bad ending is a bad story. You’ll understand me when you get older. For now, why not learn to let your imagination run free?” their Papa explained, smiling when he saw his children were still blank yet, somehow he knew they understood him.

“So, we can decide whether the story end with a good one or bad one?” the small blond asked, making sure he understood the explanation.

“You got that right, Zoiri! Smart boy!” the blond smiled proudly, praising his younger child.

“But still, we don’t get the ending from you right, Papa? We have to decide it by ourselves?” The green head added another question, still unable to process why they couldn’t hear the full story.

“You are also right, Saizo. It’s the same as your future. You have to decide it on your own.” He ruffled his older kid’s head. “So.. are we going to start the story?” the blond continued, settling his arms around his kids, pulling the two close.

“Yeeaaaa…” the boys cheered in unison. While the green head was more vigor and full of spirit, the blond was gentler and meek.

“Once upon a time, there lived a fox spirit. He was still a little boy. He had a golden hair, a pair of golden ears and a set of magnificent tails. He had 9 golden tails on him.”

“Nine?” Zoiri asked, cutting the story in curious.

“Yes. The kid had 9 tails. You know, fox spirit usually had only 1 tail, but the more they had, the more power they had. So, this little spirit was so powerful that he had nothing to afraid of, except-”

“What are you guys doing here?” Suddenly a gruff voice interrupted the story. The three of them quickly peeked over the sofa towards the source of the voice. It was another green head that popped into the living room.

“Dad!” Saizo quickly downed the sofa and ran towards the man who had the same hair color as him.

“Daddy…” Zoiri follow his big brother behind.

“ _Okaeri*1_ , Marimo.” The older blond giggled, watching the man picked up their boys into his arms and moved closer towards him.

“ _Tadaima*2_. Why are you guys here?”

“Papa is telling us story about fox.” Saizo answered him.

“Un! Fox… Like Kii-chan.” Zoiri added, while snuggling himself on the green head neck.

“Really? I would love to hear that together.” The man said, smirking while plopping down on the couch beside the blond. He then put the kids back on the sofa, before stealing a quick kiss on the unguarded blond.

“Hey!” was the reaction he got after succeed to steal the kiss in front of the kids, and a hand on his face.

“Lovey-doveeeyyy…” both the boys teased their parents, giggling.

“Where the heck did you learn that words?” the blond growled, while the green head’s jaw hanging slack.

“Nami- _neechan*3_ taught us.” Saizo answered honestly.

“Nami-schwan…..” the blond sighed, with his hand was now covering his own face.

“Papaa… continue the story.” Zoiri begged, tangling himself back to the blond, with Kii-chan was in his other hand.

“Oh, sorry kids. Where were we… Marimo, take your damn shower! You stink!” the blond grumbled before he continued the story.

“Tsk! Fine… I’ll catch up later.”

“He had 9 tails.” Saizo reminded where they left it out.

“Oh right.. So, the fox had 9 tails. He was so powerful, that the other spirit fox was afraid of him, that he was left alone in the world. He roamed the world only accompanied by his _temari*4_ ball as his friend in the dark forest, until that fateful day. The day where he found himself a friend.”

“Does the fox have name, Papa?” Now it was Saizo turned to interrupt the story.

“Of course he had.” The blond stopped for a while, before he bright up a little more, without his kids realized it. He then continued, “His name was Youko.”

*** HnO HnO HnO To Be Continue HnO HnO HnO ***

* * *

*1 I’m home

*2 Welcome back

*3 Sister [HnO: Of course Nami didn’t want to be called Aunty, did she? LoL]

*4 It’s an embroidery handball (traditional toy in Japan. I’m suck at explaining, kindly google, you’ll understand it quickly.)


	2. Tsk! I’ll be Your Friend -First part-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always like using some Japanese words in the story.  
> Worry not, I give meaning in the footnote ;)  
> Eiichiro Oda- sensei still own One Piece, Hail Oda...~~ \\(^o^\\)

**Fox Tail Tale [1] : Tsk! I’ll be Your Friend -First part-**

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

_I was fine on my own,_

_I was strong._

_I was fine on my own,_

_It was peaceful._

_I was fine on my own,_

_Because it was enough._

_I met you,_

_I realized those bluffs._

* * *

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

“Hurry up and pick up your _shinai_ *1! I don’t have all day waiting for you!” shouted the girl in annoyance. She stood tall, looking down towards the green head boy. He was still heaving and puffing after she managed to knock him down for the tenth times. His cheeks were red from the beating, while his black training cloth was drenched in his sweat. Gritting his teeth, he took the neglected bamboo swords, and gripped it tighter in both of his hands.

He swore to himself, he would take his opponent down this time. He charged forward, ignoring his exhausted body, pushing himself over his limit.

Still, even after he gathered everything that had left in his small body, with only one powerful attack, he was back on the ground. Hand trembled, growling in pain after his head received that powerful blow she launched against him.

“You still are a weakling!” she spat. The blue head girl didn’t even bug when she saw his eyes were already glistening with tears he didn’t dare to spill. “Crybaby!” she added.

“Shut up! I’ll win next time!” he shouted back, rubbing his tears away. Although it was distressing that he was in the losing side, he swore to train harder and harder each day. He never missed even a day.

“Whatever! I’ll go back now.” She informed him coldly.

“I’ll go later.”

And she just left the little boy alone.

“Zoro _baka_!” She mumbled without being heard by the boy.

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

[Will I get even stronger than her?] he thought while swinging his wooden sword towards the tree, over and over again. [I will! I will! I won’t keep losing against her!] the boy grumbled, beating the innocence tree wilder, venting out his anger.

Bonk!

Suddenly a ball bounced on his head. It wasn’t hurt, yet it wasn’t soft enough. The most important thing was he didn’t even aware of that incoming attack came from.

The green head boy jolted and quickly looked up. Narrowing his eyes, he gazed towards into the dense leaves, searching for the one who had attacked him.

“Show yourself!” he hollered. He waited for some minutes, yet nothing come out. He threw a death glare towards the tree, before sighing.

“I’ll count to three, if you aren’t going down, I’m going up! Oneeee….” His boyish voice airing in the silent darkness. “Twoooooo..” he continued.

He counted until five in his head before continuing the count out loud.

“Three!! I’m going up!” he declared. The green head boy quickly reached for the tree and gripped it tightly. As his right leg positioned itself on the tree, his hearing suddenly caught a strained voice.

“Giikh!”

Zoro grinned. His hunch was right. Someone indeed was up there and he was dying to find out. He started to climb with ease. He needed only a minute to reach its branch. He looked around to search for something. That was when his eyes caught a shadow. Quickly, he balanced himself on the branch and walked slowly on it towards the shadow which was on the further part of the branch. It was a pain in the ass, but boy.. he wasn’t one to back down from challenge.

“St-… Stay away!!!” suddenly a frightened voice rang. It was the voice of the shadow.

“I told you to go down, but you didn’t!” Zoro replied, without even faltering on his own step.

When the shadow was one reach away from his arms, without warning the shadow leapt away from the branch.

Zoro was a bit startled when the shadow went away, but he didn’t give up. Blame his curiosity. He really wanted to know the frightened shadow. Who was he? Why he was so frightened?

He didn’t waste his chance. He pushed himself from the branches with all strength in him. He quickly jumped over, following the shadow. Hands stretched in front of him, he tried to grab whatever part the shadow had.

Zoro grabbed something furry and fluffy.

“Nng? Fur?” Zoro mumbled.

Then again, he didn’t even think what would he do next, after jumped from the tree branch. Not that he could fly or float.

“Le- let me.. WAAAAAA!!!!!” the shadow wailed in desperate.

Zoro blinked once, twice.

“AAAAAAAAA!!!!” Zoro follow suit.

The two were free falling from the tree, straight towards the ground. The two toppled on each other, with a loud THUD sound.

Although the ground was covered with grass and dirt, it was still hurt so much.

“ _Iit—teee_ ….” Zoro groaned, rubbing his back. His other hand was still gripping the fury part of the shadow.

“ _Ittaaaaiiii_!! What the hell you stupid human!! Why would you do that to me?!?!” came the angry shout, followed by some punches on the green head’s head.

On instinct, Zoro defended himself with his lanky arms above his head, trying to block those incoming punches.

“Oii… I’m also hurt, ya know! Stop that!”

“But it’s all your fault, you stupid monkey! I already told you not to come near me! Let go of my tail! It hurt!!!” he was still hitting Zoro, while wailing, asking for his tail to be release in that fuckin second! At last he let it go, after some more punches.

“Because you attacked me with your ball!”

“What attack!? It was accidentally drop, idiooottt!!” the boy grumbled, caressing his tail carefully. The one that had been suffered under Zoro’s powerful grip.

“Still, why didn’t you come down and apologize??”

“I don’t want to be seen by human! Humans are dangerous!”

“But I am a human. And I don’t want to hurt you.”

“That’s… !!!! EEEKKKK!!!! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAYYY!!” the boy quickly curled into a ball, trembling frightened.

That was when Zoro notice – really notice the trembling boy.

He was the strangest thing Zoro had ever seen in his life – not that he had been living a very long life, he was only 9 for fuck sake! The boy had golden shinning locks, a pair of ears stuck on his head with the same tone as his soft hair. He wore a yellow white stripes yukata down to his knee. It fit his fair skin harmoniously. And those things! Those which captivated the green head boy was those golden fury appendages on his back. They were so glorious, even the dense boy couldn’t ignore those fluffy things. The blond had tail and it wasn’t only one, it was nine of them. The boy was hugging one of them, which it might be the one Zoro had grabbed it before, while the other was curling around the boy’s body as they were his shield.

But they were also trembling.

“Hey you!” Zoro started, which startled the blond. “What are you?”

“Nothing! Stay away from me! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“I won’t hurt you.” Zoro frowned at first then suddenly he moved closer to the strange boy.

His ears perked up, hearing the rude boy footsteps. The blond quickly looked up to see what was the other party up to. He backed away when the green head moved closer. Suddenly the green head boy moved his arms, reaching towards the blond boy. His face was still scowling scarily, making the blond shuddered in fear.

“No… NO!! STAY AW-!!”

“Here…”

“Huh?”

“Your ball. You’re searching for this right?”

“Uhh.. Nnnm.. I am.”

“See. I promised you I won’t hurt you. Relax, cry baby.” He grinned brightly, showing his teeth.

“Thank-… Who is cry baby?!?” the blond suddenly spat, annoyed.

“Of course it’s you.”

“I am not! Stupid grass head!”

“Gr-… grass head?”

“What with that color of your head anyway?!”

“Guu… Still better than that eyebrow of yours, _guru mayuge_ *2.”

“Mayu-…. Shut up Marimo!”

“Marimo..?? Now you’ve done it _kuso kitsune_ *3!” With that Zoro suddenly pounced on the blond. And the two started fighting comically, with dust engulfing the two boys.

After a good five minute, they finally stopped. Sanji got some bumps on his head, teeth mark on his arms and ears, while Zoro had two bumps on his head, and a teeth mark on his cheek and arms and scratches on his face.

“Stupid marimo!” the blond scowled, rubbing the bump on his heads.

“ _Kuso_ kitsune!” the other retorted, scrunching his painful face.

“You… not afraid of me?” the blond suddenly asked out of nowhere.

“Afraid of you? What nonsense are you talking about, crybaby?”

“Drop that word! I’m not a crybaby!” he growled again, with tears was starting to form in his eyes.

“See… You are one.” The green head giggled when he saw that pouty face.

“… You really not afraid of me?”

“Why should I?”

“Even I’m not human?”

“Do you eat human?”

“Of course not! Why should I?”

“Then why should I’m afraid of you?”

The blond blinked several times, before he managed to snapback into reality.

“You’re the strange one.” The blond said.

“Tsk! I’m not! You are!”

The blond giggled while the green head blushed.

“By the way…” the green head called. The fox boy tilted his head, locking their eyes together.

“You know I’m human, what are you?”

“… I’m… a _youkai_ *4. A _kitsune_.”

“Oh! I guessed it right, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, which surprised me.” The blond said, rolling his eyes. That answer meant to be a sarcasm, yet it seemed this human was too oblivious to understand that. Because… You could see he was grinning proudly. The blond sighed. Why he had to meet this boy, anyway?

“Why is the ball important for you?” the boy asked again out of nowhere. The fox spirit raised his eyebrows, unexpecting the incoming question.

“Why do you think it’s important?”

At first Zoro frowned, but he answered it nonetheless.

“You could run, but you didn’t. You asked me to stay away but you didn’t move away. So, I supposed you were waiting for me to go so, you could take back whatever you lost.”

The answer was making the blond gapping in awe. For a dense idiot like him, to be able predicting thing like that was… amazing! The fox boy was staring him intently with his round blue sparkling eyes. The green head quickly jerked away – didn’t want to be caught blushing – getting such gaze.

“Stop your staring, _aho_!”

“Who is an _aho_ , _baka_!” he retorted, while jerking to the opposite way, getting caught staring.

It was silence for a good five minutes, until the blond decided to break it. “It is important. My mother gave it to me.”

“… Huh? -… o-, oh.. Where is your mother now?”

“Dead.”

“…Oh.”

Another silence.

“I-… also have nobody.” The green head said, scratching his nose, while looking up the dark sky.

“… So you’re also alone?”

“Not quite. I still have a _sensei_ *4 and a rival.”

“That’s nice.”

“Are you alone?”

“N-.. No!... I have the ball my mother gave me.”

“Tskk! Isn’t that mean you’re alone?”

“I’m not!”

“You are!”

“I am not.”

“Then, can you talk to it?”

“… You are stupid.”

“That means you don’t have any friend.”

“!! I-… friend….?”

“The one that you can talk to? Play with?”

“…I know a lot of forest animals! I can play with them! They are my friends.”

“You can?! That’s awesome! You can talk to them too?”

“Of course. I’m a fox remember.”

“That’s right…”

[ _Although, I don’t have a really close friend. Someone that I can really talk to.._ ]

“But, I never meet someone like you.” the blond didn’t even realized he was saying that out loud.

“Tskk! Fine.. I will be your friend. Don’t start, crybaby.”

“I’m not cry-“

“Whatever. It’s already late. I have to go back, or my _sensei_ will be mad. You’ll be here tomorrow too?”

“… You aren’t staying here?”

Zoro was dumbstruck. Here? As stay in this open field? It’s getting cold and he didn’t want to sleep on the hard dirt. But then again, did this boy have any place?

“I live in the dojo in that village. You… have home?”

“…. Oh. I don’t have home, but I have place to stay.”

“Good then. I’ll be back tomorrow. Byee!”

“Bye…”

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

The next day, Zoro did go back to that place. It was his training ground after all. After beaten black blue – again – by his senior, the green head stayed there to practice until the fox spirit showed up.

“What happened with your face?” the blond asked, with his favorite yellow reddish ball in his hand. His tails were slumping down behind him, so did his ears.

“I just finished training. But I’ll defeat her tomorrow!”

“Her? Why?”

“I want to be the strongest man in the world! And I have to beat my sensei. But first, I have to beat her.”

“Who is her?”

“Oh.. She is _sensei_ ’s daughter. Her name is Kuina.”

“Seems you have a long way to go.”

“I don’t care! As long I can be the strongest.”

“Why do you want to be the strongest?”

“It’s my dream! It’s cool right? What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Your dream. Tell me.”

“… I want to see the world. I want to go to the most beautiful sea.”

“Have you ever been to?”

“Sea? Never. But my mom told me a lot about it. How the sea is blue, it’s vast and wide. It’s unlimited.”

_And somewhere out there, I might find a friend._

“That’s interesting. I also haven’t saw any sea. Let’s go together. I’ll ask sensei to tell me where is it.”

“You will?”

“Yup! Why not?”

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

“We have to go by carriage if we want to go to the sea.”

“Carriage?”

“Yeaah. The horses will pull the cart, and we just need to sit in the cart. Then we can reach the sea.”

“Horses? I can search for one. But cart….?”

“Hmmm…”

“Can’t we just go with the horses and left the cart away?”

“I think we could? Wanna go?”

“Why not?”

“let’s go! Where to find the horse?”

“Come here… I’ll show you!”

*********

“WOOOAAAHHH!!!!” The green head’s eyes widen in awe, seeing the blue spread without limit in front of his eyes.

“It’s beautiful…” the blond was gapping in joy. It was beyond his imagination. The sea was truly beautiful. It was like he had never seen thing as pretty as this in his whole life – and he had been living for 10 years now.

“Hehehe, I didn’t regret to skip a training to come here.” With his index finger, he rubbed his under nose, proud of himself.

“Thankyou for accompanying me here.”

“No worry. It’s great anyway. Let’s go play in the water!” Zoro pulled the young fox’s hand and quickly ran into the water, playing with the sand and those incoming waves.

Time flies by, it was indeed true when you were having so much fun.

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

Days passed, weeks changing. The two boys were getting closer as they met every day with out fail. The two could understand each other, they longed to spend their time together. Sometimes, the fox even helped Zoro to practice. Not with the shinai, but his movement. They would play catch on the tree, leaping from trees to trees. The other time, they would play hide and seek in the forest, catching each other presence. Sometimes, they went to the stream, catching fishes. It seemed to be a child play, yet it helped Zoro strengthen his core and body. And he was getting stronger without he himself even notice.

However, Kuina noticed.

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

“Lately, you’ve been skipping training, Zoro!” She reprimanded the grass head boy.

“I don’t. I still practicing.”

“Really?”

“Kuina, Zoro might have skipped sword training, but he didn’t skip training. He’s just honing his skill in different way. But it’s not bad. Sword skill is related to a lot of things, so does movement and motoric. I see you’ve been improving your intuition and speed, Zoro.” His sensei suddenly appeared out of nowhere, explaining calmly. Zoro blushed hearing the explanation, while Kuina was getting pissed at it. He was getting stronger? How could she keep her calm if he did get stronger? She also wanted to be the best swordsman. She couldn’t accept this. She had to beat him, again.

“Keep up the good work Zoro. But don’t neglect the sword training too.”

“Yes, sensei. I won’t!” Zoro grinned brightly.

“Let’s do another match then Zoro. Usual place.” She said sternly.

“Sure. I also want to see how far I’ve become.”

*********

Their shinai clashed. Even it was made of bamboo, the two were strong enough to make scratch on each other.

“HAAAAAAHHH!”

“HYAAAHHH!!!”

It was their last moved, before Zoro was being blown backwards. All his three shinai again were scattered on the ground.

“Kusssoooooooo….” He chided in anger. He was still lost. He was still in the losing side. Maybe she was right. Maybe he skipped the sword training too much.

“…. You still are weak.” She glared in disgust. Kuina was covered with sweat. Her breathing was ragged, her hands were trembling. She noticed the tremble in her hand, and quickly saw her own hand.

[Trembling? Me?] She thought. Indeed, she won. She was still stronger than him, but this time was kind of different. It wasn’t the same as usual. She was struggling to win the match. This time, he managed to make her use her everything to win the battle. He was catching up with her, and she didn’t like it. She did not want to approve him. She was jealous of him. She trained hard every day, yet he was catching up with her. She gritted her teeth in exasperation.

“I’ll go back.” She said, leaving the green head who was still sprawled on the ground.

She got no answer except some sobbing from her junior.

*********

Yet, she didn’t go back as she told him she would. She pretended to go back to the dojo, but she hid herself, so she could watch how the green head was practicing.

That was when she saw him. A blond boy. A boy with a pair of ears and nine set of tails. He walked towards Zoro, poking him from his weeping form and calmed him down in a way she never understood. She was stunned at first, but when she saw the blond’s smiling face, she realized something. It was him! The spirit of the forest! He wasn’t human. His ears and tails were real. He was gleaming under the moonlight, and she was afraid that Zoro would be taken somewhere away from her. Somewhere far far away from them. She couldn’t let it happen.

As much as Kuina envy Zoro for being a boy and stronger than her in the future, she didn’t want him to leave them. Was it love? Was it like? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know. She just wanted him to be spending their time together as a family. Just like this time.

*********

When at last Zoro said their goodbye then went away, Kuina quickly ran towards the blond fox. Leaping towards him, Kuina managed to break his guard, and toppled the fox down, pinning him under her weight.

“WAAA!!!”

“What have you done to him??” She growled.

“Who-…who are you?”

“What have you done to that boy?!” she repeated her question, pressing for answer.

“What do you mean?”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HIM?!” Getting frustrated she shouted, chocking the little fox below her.

“Aaakkh… I-… don’t….” he was unable to say anything. She was busy holding down the young fox, unnoticed that one of his tail was already behind her and,

“Kyaaa!!!” His tail wrapped around her neck, mirroring what she did to him. It was pulling her and chocking her good.

But it didn’t last long.

When he managed to stand back on his own, he quickly released the bind and jumped onto random tree and into the forest.

“I won’t let you get away…” She growled menacingly.

And into the forest she followed.

*********

It was dark. Not even moonshine able to penetrate the thick forest. Kuina had no idea where she was nor which way to go. She balled her fist tight in distress. She wanted to catch the fox, yet she was lost in the forest. Forest and night were a very danger combination and everybody in the village – including her – knew this. It wasn’t about the night creature we were talking about. It was about the landscape of the forest itself was danger. Not only the forest was dark and gloomy, there were many steep cliffs in it. And also traps that had been set by the villager to hunt for animal’s meat. Not to mention the spirit of the forest who loved to eat human. That little boy indeed looked innocent, yet he was a human-eater, and she wouldn’t let Zoro be his prey.

She looked around. The voice of owls was airing in the forest, calling each other. Not to mention the slithering sound of snakes, and the sound of dried leaves crunched under her feet. She was afraid, yet she steeled herself not to be haunted by it.

She was still searching for her way out, until her eyes caught a glimpse of light in the dark. She quickly ran towards it without even thinking.

In another seconds, she lost her footing. She could feel herself falling from a high place.

[NO…! NO! It’s impossible! I don’t want to die.! I don’t-]

“KKKYYYYYYAAAAAA!!!!”

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO TO BE CONTINUE HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

* * *

*1 Bamboo sword for practice

*2 curly brow

*3 Shit fox

*4 teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turned out it was longer than I expected to be.. and it was only the first chapter. Dammit! I break the first chapter into two, and maybe for the others too. Though, not all of them I promised.  
> This was quite a challenge. I didn’t want to focus on their relationship yet, I do have to build some background before I can dive into the main story, don’t I? Phew~  
> I hope I can build it better so the reader can enjoy my story better? Ohoho~  
> Well then, I’ll stop my rambling here, and stay tuned 😉  
> Jyaa~  
> HnO ^o^/


	3. Tsk! I’ll be Your Friend -Second part-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uff... When will the quarantine period be over?  
> When will the covid over? T___T I need to get back on holiday or I'm gonna go crazy..!!  
> Stay safe everybody. Quarantine isn't over yet, and for the sake of others, please please please do what you have to do.  
> And, hope you enjoy the new chapt! ;d  
> Eiichiro Oda- sensei still own One Piece, Hail Oda...~~ \\(^o^\\)

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

“She said she was going back after our practice.” Zoro answered his sensei.

“That was in the evening, correct?”

“Yes, Koshiro-sensei. I stayed there continuing to practice.”

“Where could she be…”

“Koshiro-san! Koshiro-san!!” suddenly a woman came, panting from the running she did towards the dojo.

“Yes, Oshino-san. Calm down, what ha-“

“Kuina! Kuina is.. dead.”

It was like a storm in the midsummer for both.

Kuina was dead? What was that supposed to mean? Dead in the term of.. dead? That she would never return?

Like… really _dead_?

“Ta-.. take me there….” There was crack deep in his voice, though his face was calm. But Zoro noticed the turbulent emotion inside him.

The woman that had been called Oshino quickly obeyed. She showed the way towards the village gate, where the other villagers had already gathered there. Some was crying, others were whispering to one another.

Both Koshiro and Zoro quickly burst into the circle.

There laid Kuina’s already stiffen body. Cold. Full of cuts.

With his trembling hand, the dojo sensei picked up her only daughter’s body, hugging her. He couldn’t belief her daughter left him like this. Hell, he couldn’t belief that this was reality.

It was Zoro’s crying voice that slapped him awake. The green head was chanting her name again and again, asking her to wake up, asking her not to worry everyone like this. Asking not to joke like this. But it fell on her now deaf ears, as she could not hear him. Anymore.

“Who found her body?” Zoro accidentally heard the not so soft conversation.

“It was the hunter, Gen-san.”

“She fell from the cliff.”

“But why was she in the forest?”

“The spirit was on the run again.”

“The human-eater?”

“The forest is danger, everybody knew.”

“She was charmed.”

“We have to protect our village.”

“We can’t let it as it is.”

Zoro frowned, unsure. Kuina was a bright girl. She wouldn’t go into the forest. She knew the danger in the forest. She wasn’t a fool. And she was different with him who had a guide who knew the forest like it was his home, Kuina didn’t have one. Who had a guide…? That was it!

Wiping away his tears and snot, Zoro stood up and ran out the village.

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

“Oiii!! _KUSO_ KITSUNE! WHERE ARE YOU??!!!” the green head screamed, calling his new found friend. He waited for some times, until he heard a rustle in one of the trees.

“Show yourself!” he demanded. But he didn’t appear. Only the sound of the rustling leaves could be heard. Like being leaded, Zoro walked closer toward one of the trees and started climb it up. There he found his blond fox.

“Why didn’t you show yourself?” The green head asked, pissed.

“Of course I won’t! Yesterday your friend was trying to kill me!”

“My friend?” Zoro gritted his teeth.

“A blue hair girl. She chocked me so hard. Though I managed to free myself, she ran after me into the forest.”

“So that was because of _YOU_!???”

“What is that?”

“She fell of the cliff and died. It was because she was running after you?!”

“She fell?”

“ANSWER ME?!” Zoro yanked the fox’s kimono harshly. He was shouting while crying, unable to maintain the over flowing emotion inside.

“I DON’T KNOW! I JUST RAN AND DIDN’T LOOK BACK!”

“WHY DID SHE WANT TO KILL YOU?!”

“HOW THE HELL DO I KNOW?! SHE WAS SPOUTING NONSENSE THEN SHE CHOCKED ME!” the blond was on the verge of crying again. His blue eyes were glassy and he was biting his lower lip, trying not to spill his tears.

“… So-.. sorry.” Zoro quickly released him. He didn’t like what he saw in that crystalizing beautiful blue beads. He didn’t like seeing the blond cry. He just didn’t!

“…. She asked ‘what do I want to do to you’. But she was chocking me, I couldn’t answer her. The next thing I know I managed to run, so I ran into the forest. I managed to slipped away from her.”

“Why would she want to chock you anyway? I don’t understand.”

“How do I know. I had no idea why human had such twisted thinking.”

“…. By the way do you know about the human-eater?”

“Huh? Human-eater?”

“Yeah, the spirit and so on…”

“I have no idea what are you talking about.”

“So do I….” was the only word he able to pronounce before he collapsed to the ground, hugged his knee, and his tears just burst like a broken dam.

“… Marimo…” The young kitsune patted his head, trying to calm him down, with his tail encircled around the crying boy. The blond sat beside him in silence.

“..She wanted.. to be the greatest swordsman… just like me…” he sobbed.

“Why would she want to kill you?”

The blond kept his silence, giving him more pats on his back. Another tail wrapped around the boy.

“Why did she fall of cliff?”

He hugged the crying boy.

“WHHYYYY??????” he was wailing, venting out his frustration. Why would she do that? Why did she die? WHY?!

*********

It was after the green head managed to calm himself down. The blond already released the boy from his hug, he still patting the boy’s back, nevertheless.

“Sorry.” He muttered somberly.

“It’s not your fault. I think she didn’t want you to blame yourself either.”

“I don’t know… but… thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You help me calm down.”

“You’re strange.”

Suddenly the blond’s ears perked up. He heard something. A ruckus. It was from the same direction where the green head usually went back. The young fox looked onto the direction, curious about the sound.

“What?”

“I heard some ruckus.”

“Ruckus?”

“From the way you usually go home.”

“You mean the village?”

“Yes.. Maybe? I don’t know. I smell a lot of human…”

“I have to go!”

“Eh? Why?”

“I don’t have-“

The villagers were nearer than expected. They arrived in Zoro’s training ground. They seemed rage about something. Bringing hoes and forks and other things Zoro couldn’t mention it one by one, the villagers were underlined terrifying. He could feel himself trembled, yet steeled himself to face that fear. But his instinct was already screaming danger in him.

If only he had more experience over the world.

Even before Zoro said anything, nor before they even had any chance to do anything, the existence of that spirit fox itself was like an oil being pour into the flame.

“THAT’S THE HUMAN-EATER!!!” Shout one of the villagers.

“HE MIGHT LOOK LIKE A BOY, BUT SEE THOSE TAILS!”

“HE IS A DEMON!!”

“DISGUSTING _YOUKAI_ *1!

“KILL HIM!”

“PROTECT OUR VILLAGE!”

“KILLER!!”

“HUNT HIM DOWN!!”

“DON’T LET HIM LIVE!!”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?! HE IS MY FRIEND!!” Zoro was screaming back at them, yet his voice was washed down by the villager scream.

“I… I’m not… human-eater… I’m not-“

“RUN IDIOT!!!” Zoro quickly pulled the fox’s hand, and ran towards the forest.

“Bu-… But I didn’t do anything…” he said in between their escape.

“This is not the time to be explaining things to them. I’ll do the explanation. You have to run for now!!” the green head answered, still pulling the fox away from the villagers.

“Run and don’t look back! I’ll try to calm them down!”

“Bu-.. but you-“

“I’ll be fine. I had been living with them. GO!” The green head hushed the fox away, so they wouldn’t be killing him.

Even the blond didn’t agree with that decision, he had no other choice for now. He would be back later, but for now safety was the first thing in his head.

“Be careful.”

“Who do you think I am?” The green head grinned.

The blond quickly leapt into one of the trees leading to the forest and disappeared into the dark place.

“WHY DID YOU LET HIM GO?! ZORO???” the head village asked him angrily, seeing their prey had escaped.

“HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG!”

“HE KILLED KUINA!!”

“He didn’t! Kuina fell from the cliff.”

“THAT WAS HIS STORY, WASN’T IT?!”

“HE LURED HER INTO THE FOREST AND KILLED HER!! WERE YOU ALSO BEING CHARMED?” the other villager shouted, adding fuel to the flames.

“HE DID SAY HE IS HIS FRIEND!”

“I AM! SO WHAT?! I WON’T LET YOU HURT HIM!!” Zoro barked back. He was so pissed the villager were treating the blond harshly. He didn’t do anything wrong. He was also grieved by Kuina’s death, but it was an accident! The blond didn’t do anything wrong.

“THEN HE ALSO ONE OF THAT HUMAN-EATER!!!”

“WHAT?!” Zoro face turned blank. What nonsense did he spout out?

“HE IS, ISN’T HE?!”

“THERE’S NO WAY THEY EAT THEIR OWN KIN!”

“HE IS ALSO THE HUMAN-EATER!”

“KILL HIM!”

“DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY!!”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINK-!!! HEY!! LET ME- GGRRRRRR!” With the villager’s clouded by their own rage and sadness, they vent out their anger on the boy.

At first Zoro was trying to fight back. Even he was still a kid, he was quite expert in kendo. He managed to snatch two sticks from the off-guard villagers, and fight them back. He even managed to disarm some of them.

However, stamina was the only problem. As strong as he was, he was still a kid who had limited stamina. He was already run out his breath after ten minutes, rampaging around. His yukata drenched with sweat, his breath was uneven.

One stick slipped of his hand, because he was losing control.

“KKhKHHH!!!” he growled in pain when his back head met a hard wood. But it didn’t end there. As his conscious was getting far, he felt another harsh blow to his ribs, making him cough blood. And another hard material hit his back, followed by another, and other. He couldn’t even scream out when his head suddenly met a hard ground. His head hurt like hell, he could only see blur image. He could only let out a weak growl when he felt something cold piercing his stomach. He had no strength to open his eyes anymore.

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

The blond was heaving harshly, catching up his ragging breath. He had run far away into the forest, leaving the raging villagers and the green head boy behind. He didn’t know whether it was the right choice or not, but there was nothing else he could choose, couldn’t he? And that pompous arrogant boy was literally screaming, asking him to run, so he did. He did say not to come back until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, yet the blond wouldn’t obey everything just like that. The boy had no control over him after all.

The fox was leaning on a high tree branch, protruding above a cliff. He could see the moon’s face even only a half of her. He needed some rest after the chase, and he had to preserve energy to be back to the green head place. Was he okay anyway?

The fox frowned in uncertainty. Knowing him, he would be okay, but with those raging humans on his tail, everything was uncertain. After all, his mother was also died in the hand of those humans who were calling themselves as _Onmyouji_ *2. He pouted, when those memories rekindled. He didn’t like it. It was gone lately, so why did it appear now?

Now.. of all times.

He jerked.

No! Did something happen to the green head? It couldn’t be. He did promise him, that he would be okay.

He bit his lower lip, thinking what should he do. He didn’t want to be catch, but he couldn’t let something happen to that idiot either.

He stood up.

The fox dashed his way back to the end of the forest, towards that open field that had been their meeting place.

*********

He knew he was near the forest entrance, when suddenly his nose caught on something. A smell was assaulting his nose, it was steely, and a little nauseating. He jumped to the nearest branch to peek around. It was silent. The humans smell was still strong yet not as strong as before.

And there that smell again.

He moved around the tree stealthy as not being caught.

Now he heard something. A rough breath. Wheezing heavily. A weak growl.

He froze.

He knew that voice.

He lurked around to the source of the wheezing.

The green head was there. He sighed in relief, finding him.

“Oii… Marimo…” he called the boy, still trying to be as soft as possible. But he didn’t respond.

“Marimooo…” He tried again. Nothing.

He rolled his eyes, then quickly he jumped down, landed beside the green head boy.

“Mari-!!! You-… What…” he was gapping, opening and shutting his mouth, without able to phrase his sentence.

“Kuuh… are you,- okay??” came the question.

“I-.. Ba… Baka! I should be the one who ask you that! What happened to you?”

“… I-…. Had no… idea.”

He was covered in blood. His stomach was. It was a miracle he was still breathing at this point. Trembling, the blond reached out for his friend.

“Aa..” even the slightest touch was enough to make him growl.

“Are… Are you dying?”

“-…. May.. be?.... I don’t- ..no…”

“But you promised me…. You promised me to play together!”

“… I know… I want to keep-….. with yo, but-…”

“LIAR!” he wailed.

“STo-… cryba-…”

“I’m not, crybaby!”

“You- are”

“You are.. dying! How am I suppose not to… cry, JERK!”

“…am not…”

“You ARE!”

He giggled even though it was hard enough for him to breath. The blond was unable to stop his cry. He was losing his friend. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to lose him.

“… Kit-… ne…” he called. His word was barely hearable.

“Don’t die….”

“Name…”

“Huh?”

“Your name… tell- me…”

“Youko! I am Youko!”

“I’m-.. Zoro…”

“I don’t care! I don’t want you to die!”

“You.. will always-… be my fri-…nd, You…”  
“You will too. Don’t leave me.”

He didn’t get any respond. The boy was limp beside him. His eyes half lidded, staring him and nothing, at the same time. His rough breathing was gone. He didn’t move. He was smiling though.

“Marimo?” he tried to call the boy.

He didn’t bug.

“Marimo… it’s not funny.”

He stayed still.

“No… please.. Zoro… you promised me, you will play with me..”

Nothing.

“ZOROOO!!!!” he grabbed the boy’s tattered yukata, trying to jerk him up. But he didn’t move. He was gone.

His eyes couldn’t spill tears anymore. His eyes were dried from all the cried. Yet the pain in his heart didn’t cease. Contrarily, it began to hurt much much more. He shouted, then it turned into howl before it changed into wail. He was weeping in agony in the dark night. Human was cruel, and once again they screwed his life. They took his mother then they took his friend. He hated them. He loathed them.

_Boy, don’t involve with humans. They are weak but they are cruel. They envy everything above them, and they don’t accept anything different from them. Remember, your power is tremendous and precious. You might be able to grant what their wish for, but it won’t bring you any good. They want you for that power, so you have to be very careful._

Suddenly, his mother’s words came into his mind.

[Power…? Granting wish? But how? I want him to live again. I want to talk and play with him again.]

He had no idea what to do. He put his hands above Zoro lethal wound. He focused his power.

[I want him to be back… Bring him back. Revive him. I want to be with him. He is my only friend.] He chanted the word in his brain.

He felt something moving inside him. Something strong that he had never feel before. Something.. like energy swirled wildly inside him. He could feel all blood in his body was moving faster, his heart was racing gradually faster with each second passing.

And there was this pain.

Somewhere inside him. At first it was subtle yet it was growing more and more painful. It was like having your body being tear from inside out.

“AAAAAAAKKKHHHH!!!!” He couldn’t help but screaming in pain. It felt like he was being rip apart. All of his blood was rushing crazily inside, his heart was being pierced by thousand needles. His internals were on fire, and all the bones in his body was being broke each one of them. The next minute, he felt something inside him exploded, something like the core of himself. He didn’t quite understand what was it, yet in the next second he felt tired. Really, really exhausted. The blond collapse to the ground beside the green head.

With his trembling hand, he reached the green head’s cold one. He gave a soft squeezed, before succumbed into darkness.

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

“Are you… sure that’s a proper bedtime story?” The green head asked with his eyebrows twisted in bewilderment. He sighed in relief, seeing the kids were already dozed off in middle of the story – luckily – before they reached the gore part.

“Well, luckily they went off before we reached the ‘not’ bedtime story, didn’t we?” the blond smiled, tucking their sweethearts on his lap. The other man leered to him, speechless. The blond chuckled softly, not wanting to wake his kids.

“Will they demand the continuation tomorrow?”

“I believe they will.”

“You’re not going to continue where they left off, are you?”

“That’s… for you to found out tomorrow.”

“What?!”

“It means… Don’t come back late, Marimo.” He smirked, then gave him a peck on his lips. The green head answered his kiss, by pushing him eagerly, before the blond pulled away.

“Help me tuck in these two. We can continue after that.”

“Sounds good to me…” he grinned, picking up Saizo first, then Zoiri in his arms. He was strong just like that.

“You know.. seeing you carry those angels like that, keep making me forgot how heavy they really are.”

“Heh! That’s why I stay up late.”

“Really? Aren’t you just a _hentai yarou_?”

“Well, you can blame yourself for looking so tempting, _kuso_ cook.”

“ _Hentai_ marimo!”

*** HnO HnO HnO HnO TO BE CONTINUE HnO HnO HnO HnO ***

*1 spirit/demon/monster

*2 diviner/ exorcist

*3 pervert bastard (Oh please, I know you guys know this exact insult. LoL)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha... I have no idea what to blab here... but hope you enjoyed ;D  
> See ya in the next chap!  
> Jyaa  
> HnO ^o^/

**Author's Note:**

> Yes! That was the prologue. I wish I could go finish the first part yet, it was getting longer than expected. So I have to probe my brain further to make it as nice as I like.  
> With that being said, I hope you enjoy~  
> And don’t forget to leave comments. Maybe I got another great amazing idea from it~!  
> See you next time  
> Jyaa~  
> HnO ^o^/


End file.
